Gettin' Ready

We are preparing for a large crew of guests here at our little Brown house this week to celebrate Turkey Day!

I think that I have mentioned a few bazillion times before that we LOVE the holidays around here and hosting our families for Thanksgiving is such fun for us.  Now don't get me wrong, I can get a little stressed, (just ask my sweet and oh-so accomodating hubby) but I try to get things organized and started early so that the stress stays to a minimum.

The decorating is mostly done with our cornucopia taking center stage...

along with our thankful tree...

Each night after supper we write something we are thankful for on one of the maple leaves and add it to our tree.  I really like these branches because once we are done with Thanksgiving we will switch gears and use it for our Jesse tree.

I am loving the fact that Hannah and Lily are home with me this week and they are helping with all the preparations.  Hannah came home from her school Thanksgiving feast with this cute hat and tom tom....

I love the Indian name she chose for herself...Lily Flower.  Wonder where that came from? :)

I am trying to do my best to not rush this week away.  The holidays always seem to fly by so we are trying to slow things down and make the most of each one.  With that in mind we are making sure to take some time out this week and make our own fun Thanksgiving day crafts that I will share later.  Hannah and Lily are also enjoying spending some time with their new Thanksgiving books that arrived in the mail last week from Bebe and Grandad...

I hope you are all enjoying the start of your Thanksgiving week as much as we are!!!!!

two

Last week we celebrated Lily's second birthday.  I honestly cannot believe that two years have passed since the birth of this sweet little one...

The year between a first and second birthday is an amazing one to me.  Lily has changed so much since this photo was taken one year ago...

Soon after that picture was taken Lily took her first steps...and she hasn't looked back ever since.  This child spends most of her days running from place to place, mostly on the heels of her big sister.  My babe is tiny, weighing in at her 2 year check-up at 21 1/2 lbs, but what she lacks in weight she makes up for with her giant personality.

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Lily is very sensitive and oh so very sweet.  She is such a talker, loves the word "no" and really prefers to have things own way :).  This little one is opinionated about absolutely everything, from which cup she drinks out of, to what she wears (and who puts it on her)...

Lily likes hugs and kisses, but they have to be quick because she has things to do and can't be stopped for too long.  She loves to read books, play puzzles and play with her baby doll, but mostly she prefers to be outside in the swing, on a walk, or digging in the garden.

Lily goes back and forth between being outgoing and being a little shy around strangers.  She becomes little miss show off when she is wearing these...

We bought these shoes for her recently and if she has them on watch out.  Lily will stick her foot out in front of you and leave it there until you comment on her "parkly shoes."  She did this the other day while we were out shopping... stopping each person we passed by sticking her foot out in front of them and waiting for them to take notice of her shoes.  She can work a crowd for sure.

Probably my favorite time with Lily is each Monday and Wednesday when I pick her up from Mother's Day Out.  Lily and Hannah's school is affiliated with our church and so we are lucky enough to have our church building right next to the school. We have about 30 minutes before we pick up Hannah, so we slip into church and spend some time alone together in the quiet talking about the stained glass windows, statues of Jesus and discovering all that we see from a distance at Sunday Mass.  When it is time to leave, Lily blows Jesus a kiss and tells him that she loves him.  It is so sweet and I know he is there blowing her a kiss right back and telling my sweet girl how much he loves her.

My little Lily you are the world's sweetest little girl as well as the world's biggest stinker and there is not a thing I would change about you.  Our lives are so much fuller now that you are a part of our family and I am looking forward to continuing to watch you grow.  I love you so much and am so grateful that God blessed us with you!

An Art-filled Weekend

We spent this past weekend enjoying one of our favorite art festivals around - the Moss Rock Festival.  The art festival is held each year in November right outside of Birmingham in The Preserve, a beautiful Hoover neighborhood.  I love this neighborhood because all of the houses are built using classic American style architecture.  I am a sucker for architecture and am a big fan of old homes with a great history (which is why we own the house we do.)   The interesting thing about The Preserve is it is a new neighborhood built using styles of the past...mixing the best of the old with the best of the new.  I still prefer homes with a history but if you want new this is definitely the way to go.

We spent Saturday at Moss Rock enjoying a really sunny, really cold day outside playing with hula hoops, creating some works of art ourselves, wandering around houses with walls made from recycled materials, making music and more!  Sunday we were back for more spending some time walking around checking out the artist booths and admiring their creations.  We had a great time and enjoyed what I consider to be the perfect fall weekend.

Such fun with my family!  And speaking of fun...tomorrow Lily turns the big "2"!  Today my thoughts keep turning to how on this day 2 years ago I was on laying on my left side in the bed on bed rest and daydreaming about meeting my little girl.  I am looking forward to celebrating two wonderful years with my little Lils tomorrow!